UPDATE (May 11, 2012) - Great news! The books have arrived at MiceChat central. Our goal is to have them all packaged for shipping this weekend and off to the Post Office on Monday May 14th. Thank you everyone!

One of the most collectible Disney theme park books of all time is Disneyland Paris From Sketch To Reality. Sadly, it has long been out of print and now goes for about $500 used and well over $1,000 in new condition.

Here's a current look at the book prices on Amazon (Yikes!)

Over the years, I've become a close personal friend of the author and recently discovered something which will benefit all of us (or at least the first 250 or so of you who respond).

The rights to the book, which was once sold at Disneyland Paris, have gone to a new publishing company, and as Alain went through the details with them, they discovered that about 730 of the English "Collectors Edition" were never printed (due to printing expenses and other reasons at the time). So, we've decided to complete the run! That means that you've finally got an opportunity to pick up a copy of this amazing book at reasonable rates!

For those of you who aren't familiar with the collector's edition of Disneyland Paris, From Sketch To Reality, it is one of the most collectible Disney books ever printed. The collector's edition is printed on a luxury glossy paper and has gold printing on the cover and dust jacket, it was limited to 2000 copies in English ( and 2000 in french ), each copy has a number, AND each copy includes four beautiful "lithographs" of WDI artwork for the Walt Disney Studios. Each of these lithographs is suitable for framing. It's a big book with 320 pages and 750 pictures in it. The book is in the process of being printed now and will begin shipping late March/early April.

These are the Walt Disney Studios Park lithos.

The book will be released May 2012, as we hope to have the collector's edition released in time for Disneyland Paris' 20th Anniversary.

You can order a copy of this collector's edition today in the MiceChat store: click this link to the MiceChat Store and select the option to buy the Disneyland Paris book, including how many copies you'd like. If you are like me, you'll buy one to keep unopened and one to put out on display and read (and perhaps some copies to sell on Ebay when this limited print runs out of stock). The price of the book INCLUDES shipping to anywhere in North America and Europe (additional shipping fees may apply to other parts of the globe).

There will be a maximum 730 copies of the book produced in English, so there is a high likelihood that it will sell out quickly and go right back to those astronomical resell prices on Amazon and Ebay. Pick up all the copies you'll ever want now!

We are so excited to be involving you in this little adventure. Below, you'll find a description of the book from Alain, as well as some visuals from the inside of the book. I've included a little video I took a couple of years ago about the book.

Meet Disneyland Paris, From Sketch To Reality, a gorgeous "coffee table book" with 320 pages and 750 pictures - of which 500 are park and attractions photos and 250 are Walt Disney Imagineering renderings! The size is 9 x 12 inches, all pages are in color and it's hardbound with a glossy dust jacket. The text (by Disney historian Didier Ghez), was written after more than 75 interviews he conducted with the Imagineers who created the park. He goes into just about everything you wanted to know about this unique place that many describe as the most beautiful "Magic Kingdom" ever created by WDI.

It took five years to create the book, and it looks just as good as we had hoped for at the beginning - in fact Imagineer Bruce Gordon told us that it was "probably the best book ever done on a Disney theme park". Coming from Bruce, who created the classic "Disneyland, The Nickel Tour" book with David Mumford book, it was more than a compliment.

The first chapter about Main Street has 52 pages and introduces the reader to the "legend" of Main Street, USA. You'll learn all about the Disneyland Paris Railroad, the unique "Discovery" and "Liberty" Arcades; find out about the architecture, the restaurants (like "Walt's," a tribute to Walt Disney, but also inspired by Club 33 in Anaheim) and the shops; with dozens of photos, renderings, models, as well as the "cities of the future" posters located in the "Discovery Arcade."

The second chapter on Frontierland discusses the park's western side, with extensive sections about its major attractions, "Big Thunder Mountain" and "Phantom Manor." In fact the book has the longest sections ever put together in a book on all the major attractions. The Pirates of Caribbean section in the Adventureland chapter is 26 pages, Phantom Manor has an additional 16 pages devoted to it, as does Space Mountain, it's a small world, etc. The photo material was so great that we kept adding more pages to the book, which was supposed to have only 240 pages when we started... we ended up with 320 upon completion!

The Frontierland chapter also covers the Mark Twain Riverboat, the River Rogue Keelboats, Fort Comstock, all the restaurants, the shops and Cottonwood Creek Ranch - and featurs stunning photos of Disneyland Paris from the air by Yann Arthus Bertrand, author of The Earth from Above that make spectacular "double-pages," and allow the reader to discover the park from a whole different angle.

The Adventureland chapter is even more interesting, as many elements of the land exist only in Paris - such as the Bazaar and Aladdin to Africa and the ex-"Explorer's Club." Plus there's a long section about "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril," "Adventure Isle" and "The Swiss Robinson Treehouse" and, of course, "Pirates of Caribbean" the land's major attraction and featuring its amazing Audio-Animatronics! All in all there are 56 full pages about Adventureland, and as in the previous chapters, there are dozens of photos, lots of concept art, and many shots of Imagineers at work. There's even a great bonus here, with the Marc Davis artwork for "Pirates" also included.

56 full pages are also dedicated to Fantasyland. There's an extensive look at Sleeping Beauty Castle, sections on all the dark rides (Snow White, Peter Pan and Pinocchio), as well as a look at "Alice's Curious Labyrinth," the "Mad Hatter's Tea Cups," "Storybookland," and "Casey Jr." There are even 14 pages about "it's a small world" with stunning photos of nearly all the scenes in it. Here, the reader can discover a new attraction that exists only at Disneyland Paris, with a great view from above of Alice's Labyrinth.

Discoveryland also gets 52 pages of special treatment, with sections on the Visionarium, the Nautilus, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and everything you wanted to know about the other attractions in this land – Autopia and Orbitron.

In fact, the Nautilus chapter takes you on a visit with photos of every room of this detailed walk-through and two double page photo spreads, one which makes you feel you're inside Captain Nemo's grand salon, and the other showing you a unique view of Discoveyland featuring the Nautilus and Space Mountain in a kind of "CinemaScope" view.

When the book was released in early 2002, the Walt Disney Studios didn't exist, so you won't see it in the book (This is Disneyland Paris as it was in its glory days). But there's still one last chapter about the hotels of the park, and Disney Village too, with the great Buffalo Bill Wild West show that entertains hundreds each evening. And because every day in a Magic Kingdom should end with a parade and fireworks, the Main Street Electrical Parade heads down Main Street with fireworks high above the castle in this gorgeous Herb Ryman painting which closes the book!

Comment

I own one of the "standard edition" releases, and other than the gold cover, individual numbering, and park lithos, are there any other differences between the two printings? I *really* like the book, and am trying to justify to myself paying the $150 price point if it is just the lithos and gold cover...

I own one of the "standard edition" releases, and other than the gold cover, individual numbering, and park lithos, are there any other differences between the two printings? I *really* like the book, and am trying to justify to myself paying the $150 price point if it is just the lithos and gold cover...

Thanks!

Howdy Goatdan,
If you've already got the regular edition of the book, there probably isn't reason for you to buy the Collectors Edition as well, unless you'd like a more collectible copy or to give one as a gift.

We've had several people buy a number of copies for resell later on Ebay and Amazon and many gift copies purchased. Most folks seem to be buying two. One to keep and one to sell or gift.

Cheers and much thanks for your interest in our project!

Dusty

---------- Post added 02-23-2012 at 12:28 PM ----------

Sharing a review from George and Jeff of the Communicore Weekly blog:

Thanks guys!

Dusty

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